Block title: The block title is set automatically based on the standard selected. It takes the form of “Annotation: Shortname of the standard” and cannot be changed.

Annotation: Write your annotation for your portfolio page. The annotation helps connect the evidence on the page to the standard or competency you selected to associate it with in the competency framework.

Note

You can change the text as long as no feedback has been placed on the block. In order to change the text, you go into Edit mode of the page and then choose the Configure icon of the Annotation block that you want to change. You cannot change the annotation from the SmartEvidence map.

Allow feedback: When you allow feedback on your annotation, others can leave feedback as usual. However, as soon as the first feedback has been added, you will not be able to make changes to your annotation text anymore. That is to ensure that the feedback still relates back to the annotation.

Tags: Enter tags to find your annotation more easily at a later stage. Separate your tags with commas. If you already have tags, you can click on the link Show my tags and select the ones that you think will fit for this collection as well. They will be entered into the text field for you.

Standard: When you place the Annotation block on the page, you can select the standard with which the page shall be associated based on the SmartEvidence framework selected for the collection. You can change the standard until somebody leaves feedback or makes an assessment. If you select the page from the SmartEvidence overview page, the standard is pre-selected and cannot be changed.

Note

You can use the Annotation block without SmartEvidence, but then you can’t choose a competency standard.

The description of the selected standard is displayed so you can easily reference it.

Retractable: Choose whether you want to allow users to reduce the block to its heading on a page or see just the heading only automatically. The options are:

No: The block and its content is displayed at all times.

Yes: Allow users to reduce the block to just the heading by clicking the Retractable icon .

Automatically retract: Only the heading of the block is visible, and the user can click the Retracted icon to view its content.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click Cancel to leave the block’s content as it is. Remove is shown only when you place the block into the page for the first time.

You can also click the Close button in the top left-hand corner of the modal window to either remove a newly created block before it is being saved or to cancel any changes and leave the block’s content as it is.

When you have access to a collection that contains a SmartEvidence map, you can leave feedback on an annotation. You may be able to assess it if you have staff or institution administrator permissions in the same institution as the portfolio author unless it is a self-assessment framework.

Respond to an annotation

Click the annotation on the SmartEvidence map that you wish to take a closer look at. A modal window opens with the annotation.

Read the annotation.

Place feedback: You can leave feedback on the annotation.

Make public: Decide whether everybody who has access to the page can view your feedback or just the portfolio author.

Click the Place feedback button to add your feedback to the annotation.

You can view the feedback of others.

If an assessment was already made, you can see it here. This also serves as log of the assessment changes throughout the lifetime of the annotation.

Assessment: If you have the permission to assess the standard, you see a drop-down menu here with the possible statuses that you can use. Select one of them.

Click the Save button to keep your selection or click Cancel to abort the assessment.

You can also click the Close button in the top left-hand corner of the modal window to either remove a newly created block before it is being saved or to cancel any changes and leave the block’s content as it is.

Make public: Decide whether everybody who has access to the page can view your feedback or just the portfolio author.

Click the Place feedback button to add your feedback to the annotation or click Cancel to abort the assessment.

You can also click the Close button in the top left-hand corner of the modal window to either remove a newly created block before it is being saved or to cancel any changes and leave the block’s content as it is.

Retractable: Choose whether you want to allow users to reduce the block to its heading on a page or see just the heading only automatically. The options are:

No: The block and its content is displayed at all times.

Yes: Allow users to reduce the block to just the heading by clicking the Retractable icon .

Automatically retract: Only the heading of the block is visible, and the user can click the Retracted icon to view its content.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click Cancel to leave the block’s content as it is. Remove is shown only when you place the block into the page for the first time.

You can also click the Close button in the top left-hand corner of the modal window to either remove a newly created block before it is being saved or to cancel any changes and leave the block’s content as it is.

This block is a default block on the group homepage. You can display member profile pictures and their names.

Note

This block can only be used on a group homepage.

Configure the Group members block

Block title: The automatic title for this block is “Members”. You can set another one if you wish.

Shown members: Choose how many members (between 1 and 100) are shown on the group homepage. All others are accessible via the Members tab in the group. The default number of members displayed is 12.

Order: Choose the order in which members are displayed. Options are

Latest: Display members according to their group joining date in reverse chronological order.

Random: Let Mahara decide which members to display.

Retractable: Choose whether you want to allow users to reduce the block to its heading on a page or see just the heading only automatically. The options are:

No: The block and its content is displayed at all times.

Yes: Allow users to reduce the block to just the heading by clicking the Retractable icon .

Automatically retract: Only the heading of the block is visible, and the user can click the Retracted icon to view its content.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click Cancel to leave the block’s content as it is. Remove is shown only when you place the block into the page for the first time.

You can also click the Close button in the top left-hand corner of the modal window to either remove a newly created block before it is being saved or to cancel any changes and leave the block’s content as it is.

This block is a default block on the group homepage. You can display pages and collections created in and / or shared with the group in this block.

The name of the block was changed from “Group pages” to “Group portfolios” as it’s not only pages that are displayed.

Note

This block can only be used on a group homepage.

Configure the Group portfolios block

Block title: The automatic title for this block is “Group portfolios”. You can set another one if you wish.

Display group pages and collections: Decide whether to display pages and collections that were created in the group. “Yes” is the default option.

Sort group pages and collections by: Choose in which order to display portfolios created in the group. “Alphabetical” is the default option, but you can also display them based on when they were last updated.

Display shared pages: Decide whether to display pages that users shared with the group. Pages that are in collections are not displayed. The options are:

None: No shared pages are displayed.

By members of this group: Display only pages that have been shared by members of the group.

Note

This option is particularly well-suited for groups that are used for class purposes. That way, students can share their pages or collections with the group for a long time, but the administrator can choose to display only pages of group members but not those that are not members anymore. The pages of non-group members are still accessible via the Shared with me functionality.

By members of this group: Display only collections that have been shared by members of the group.

By anybody: Display all collections that have been shared with the group.

Note

Submitted pages are not displayed in the section of “Shared pages” and “Shared collections” to avoid confusion whether they have been shared with the group or not.

Sort shared pages and collections by: Choose in which order to display pages and collections shared with the group. “Alphabetical” is the default option, but you can also display them based on when they were last updated.

Display submitted pages and collections: Decide whether to display pages and collections that group members submitted to the group. There is no distinction made between pages and collections. “Yes” is the default option.

Note

When you choose this option, you also see which members have not yet submitted a portfolio to the group. This is helpful in particular in large groups with lots of portfolio submissions.

Sort submitted pages and collections by: Choose in which order to display pages and collections submitted to the group. “Alphabetical” is the default option, but you can also display them based on when they were last updated.

Entries per page: Choose the maximum number of pages or collections you wish to see on the group homepage for the above before a paginator is displayed. You can display a maximum of 100 items per category.

Retractable: Choose whether you want to allow users to reduce the block to its heading on a page or see just the heading only automatically. The options are:

No: The block and its content is displayed at all times.

Yes: Allow users to reduce the block to just the heading by clicking the Retractable icon .

Automatically retract: Only the heading of the block is visible, and the user can click the Retracted icon to view its content.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click Cancel to leave the block’s content as it is. Remove is shown only when you place the block into the page for the first time.

You can also click the Close button in the top left-hand corner of the modal window to either remove a newly created block before it is being saved or to cancel any changes and leave the block’s content as it is.

Note

A page is considered as modified when the content of at least one block is updated, including the adding of a new Mahara journal entry into the journal block.

Block title: The automatic title for this block is “Inbox”. You can set another one if you wish.

Message types to display: Change the switch to “Yes” for each message type that you want to display in this block.

Maximum number of items to display: Decide how many messages shall be shown on your dashboard. You can choose between 1 and 100.

Retractable: Choose whether you want to allow users to reduce the block to its heading on a page or see just the heading only automatically. The options are:

No: The block and its content is displayed at all times.

Yes: Allow users to reduce the block to just the heading by clicking the Retractable icon .

Automatically retract: Only the heading of the block is visible, and the user can click the Retracted icon to view its content.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click Cancel to leave the block’s content as it is. Remove is shown only when you place the block into the page for the first time.

You can also click the Close button in the top left-hand corner of the modal window to either remove a newly created block before it is being saved or to cancel any changes and leave the block’s content as it is.

When you display messages from other users on your dashboard through the Inbox block, you can see quickly which messages you have not read. They are marked in bold.

The Latest changes I can view block displays the latest portfolios to which you have access across Mahara by other people. This includes pages and collections. Prior to Mahara 15.10 this block was called Latest pages.

Note

This block can only be used on your dashboard.

Configure the Latest changes I can view block

Block title: The automatic title for this block is “Latest changes I can view”. You can set another one if you wish.

Maximum number of results to show: Decide how many pages and collections shall be shown on your dashboard. You can choose between 1 and 100.

Retractable: Choose whether you want to allow users to reduce the block to its heading on a page or see just the heading without the block content automatically. The options are:

No: The block and its content is displayed at all times.

Yes: Allow users to reduce the block to just the heading by clicking on the heading of a block where the Retractable icon is shown.

Automatically retract: Only the heading of the block is visible, and the user can click on the heading of a block where the Retracted icon is shown to view its content.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page for the first time.

You can also click the Close icon in the top left-hand corner to either remove a newly created block before it is being saved or to cancel any changes and leave the block’s content as it is.

The block on your dashboard page looks like the following.

Example of the Latest changes I can view block

Title of the block.

If you chose a retractable option, you can click on the title or anywhere in the title space to change the block’s behaviour.

Title of the page or collection to which you have access.

If it is a collection, you see the number of pages contained within.

Name of the portfolio author, and when the portfolio was last updated.

Block title: The title of the collection is chosen automatically unless you provide a different one.

Collection: Choose the collection from the drop-down menu for which you wish to display links in the block.

Retractable: Choose whether you want to allow users to reduce the block to its heading on a page or see just the heading only automatically. The options are:

No: The block and its content is displayed at all times.

Yes: Allow users to reduce the block to just the heading by clicking the Retractable icon .

Automatically retract: Only the heading of the block is visible, and the user can click the Retracted icon to view its content.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click Cancel to leave the block’s content as it is. Remove is shown only when you place the block into the page for the first time.

You can also click the Close button in the top left-hand corner of the modal window to either remove a newly created block before it is being saved or to cancel any changes and leave the block’s content as it is.

Alternatively, you can also use text from another note that you have already written. Click the Use content from another note button to do so.

License: You see this drop-down menu if the site administrator turned on license metadata. Additionally, if you are in an institution, your institution administrator may require you to provide a license. Your default license is displayed. You can set your default license in your account settings. You may choose a different license for each individual artefact.

Advanced licensing: If you can / must enter license information, you can also provide information about the original licensor and a URL where the original can be found.

Allow comments: Switch this setting to “No” if you do not want others to comment on your note. This option is set to “Yes” by default.

Tags: Enter tags to find your note more easily at a later stage. You can choose from your existing tags by starting to type a letter and then selecting the tag you want to use. You can also type a new tag, and it is added to your list of tags.

See also

You can find more information on how to use the tag selector in the “Tags” section.

Retractable: Choose whether you want to allow users to reduce the block to its heading on a page or see just the heading only automatically. The options are:

No: The block and its content is displayed at all times.

Yes: Allow users to reduce the block to just the heading by clicking the Retractable icon .

Automatically retract: Only the heading of the block is visible, and the user can click the Retracted icon to view its content.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click Cancel to leave the block’s content as it is. Remove is shown only when you place the block into the page for the first time.

You can also click the Close button in the top left-hand corner of the modal window to either remove a newly created block before it is being saved or to cancel any changes and leave the block’s content as it is.

License: Your default license is displayed. You can set your default license in your account settings. You may choose a different license for each individual artefact.

Licensor: If you are uploading a file that somebody else created, you can attribute the work to them here and provide their name for example.

Original URL: If you are uploading somebody else’s file, provide a link to the original Internet address so that others can go there and view the original file.

If the site administrator turned on the image resizing option, you can decide whether you want to have your images resized if they are larger than the specified dimensions. This option is recommended to save space in your portfolio.

File: You do not have to go back to your Files area in Content in order to upload a file. You can do so directly from this screen.

Folder path: The breadcrumbs show in which folder you are currently.

Click the Edit button to change any component of a folder or file, i.e. its name, description and tags. If you have a folder or file included in a page that you submitted for feedback, you will not be able to edit them.

Note

You can also still select files that have been submitted in another portfolio page.

Click into the row that contains the file you wish to display in the block to select it.

Warning

When you place group, institution or site files into a page, beware that these files may not be available at some point anymore when the person in charge deletes them.

You can re-use text from other note from one page in another without having to copy the page first.

Warning

If you do not make a copy of the note content in the block configuration and change it, the text is changed in all other instances where this note is used.

Configure the Note block by copying text

Click the button Use content from another note to view all notes to which you have access. These can be:

your own notes

notes from group pages that you can copy

notes from institution or site pages to which you have access

Click Browse or Search to find the note that you want to re-use.

Click the Manage all note content link to be taken to your personal Notes if you can’t find what you are looking for.

All notes are listed with their title and the first line. If a note does not belong to you but for example to a group, you see the author next to the note’s title.

Use the paginator to move between your notes if more than 5 are displayed.

You see the number of notes that you have access to.

Click the radio button in front of a note that you want to use in this page.

The content of the note that you have selected is displayed in the Block content box. Now you can make changes.

Warning

The text will be changed in all other instances where this note appears.

If you wish to make changes to the note, but do not want to change it everywhere else, click the Make a copy link above the Block content. The text is then retained, but it is treated like a new note and the original note is not changed.

Block title: Review the block title and make changes if necessary. Once you copied a note, the original block title is entered here.

Note

You can change the block title no matter whether you change the content of the note or not.

All other functionality that you see on the screen is the same as for adding a new note.

Open a note that is submitted for assessment in another portfolio

Block content: When you open a note that is used on a page that is currently submitted, you cannot make changes to the note.

Click the Make a copy link in order to make changes to this note on this page only. It is not changed on the other page that is submitted or on any other page where the text appears.

Block title: The title of the plan is chosen automatically unless you provide a different one.

Plan to show: Choose the plan which you want to display in your page.

Retractable: Choose whether you want to allow users to reduce the block to its heading on a page or see just the heading only automatically. The options are:

No: The block and its content is displayed at all times.

Yes: Allow users to reduce the block to just the heading by clicking the Retractable icon .

Automatically retract: Only the heading of the block is visible, and the user can click the Retracted icon to view its content.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click Cancel to leave the block’s content as it is. Remove is shown only when you place the block into the page for the first time.

You can also click the Close button in the top left-hand corner of the modal window to either remove a newly created block before it is being saved or to cancel any changes and leave the block’s content as it is.

Result of an embedded plan in a portfolio page. By clicking on the linked titles, you can show the descriptions of the individual tasks.

Display a specified number of recent forum posts from one group on a page.

Note

You must be a member of at least one group in order to use this block.

Configure the Recent forum posts block

Block title: The title of the block is generated automatically unless you provide a different one. The default title is “Recent forum posts”.

Group: Choose the group whose forum posts you wish to display.

Maximum number of posts to show: Decide how many of the latest forum posts you wish to show. The default value is 5. You can show up to 100 posts.

Retractable: Choose whether you want to allow users to reduce the block to its heading on a page or see just the heading only automatically. The options are:

No: The block and its content is displayed at all times.

Yes: Allow users to reduce the block to just the heading by clicking the Retractable icon .

Automatically retract: Only the heading of the block is visible, and the user can click the Retracted icon to view its content.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click Cancel to leave the block’s content as it is. Remove is shown only when you place the block into the page for the first time.

You can also click the Close button in the top left-hand corner of the modal window to either remove a newly created block before it is being saved or to cancel any changes and leave the block’s content as it is.

Retractable: Choose whether you want to allow users to reduce the block to its heading on a page or see just the heading only automatically. The options are:

No: The block and its content is displayed at all times.

Yes: Allow users to reduce the block to just the heading by clicking the Retractable icon .

Automatically retract: Only the heading of the block is visible, and the user can click the Retracted icon to view its content.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click Cancel to leave the block’s content as it is. Remove is shown only when you place the block into the page for the first time.

You can also click the Close button in the top left-hand corner of the modal window to either remove a newly created block before it is being saved or to cancel any changes and leave the block’s content as it is.

If you want pages to be displayed, you need to add them to it first by clicking the 3 dots button on a page and then add the page to your watchlist.

Configure the Watched pages block for your watchlist

Block title: The automatic title for this block is “Watched pages”. You can set another one if you wish.

Select to display Pages on my watchlist.

Items to show: Decide how many pages shall be shown on your dashboard. You can choose between 1 and 100.

Retractable: Choose whether you want to allow users to reduce the block to its heading on a page or see just the heading without the block content automatically. The options are:

No: The block and its content is displayed at all times.

Yes: Allow users to reduce the block to just the heading by clicking the Retractable icon .

Automatically retract: Only the heading of the block is visible, and the user can click the Retracted icon to view its content.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page for the first time.

You can also click the Close button in the top right-hand corner to either remove a newly created block before it is being saved or to cancel any changes and leave the block’s content as it is.

View your watchlist on your dashboard.

View the Watched pages block

Title of the block.

Note

If you chose a retractable option, you can click on the title or anywhere in the title space to change the block’s behaviour.

Title of the watched page. You can click the link to be taken to her.

View the page owner and the date when the page was last updated. This is in particular important information when all your watched pages have the same or a similar title.

If you have friends on Mahara, then you can use this block to display their portfolios when they have shared them with you:

personally

as a member of a group

as an institution member

as a registered user

publicly

Configure the Watched pages block for your friend activity

Block title: The automatic title for this block is “Watched pages”. You can set another one if you wish.

Select to display Activities of my friends.

Click Additional filters and settings to make additional changes.

Filter by time: You can select the time period over which you want to see changes. Your options are:

Last week

Last month

Last 2 months

Last 3 months

Last 6 months

Last year

Since last login

Order by: Decide how the portfolios are to be ordered. Your choices are:

Reverse chronological order: Display the latest changes first

Page owner: Display all pages by their owner with the one having made changes last first.

Items to show: Decide how many pages shall be shown on your dashboard. You can choose between 1 and 100.

Retractable: Choose whether you want to allow users to reduce the block to its heading on a page or see just the heading without the block content automatically. The options are:

No: The block and its content is displayed at all times.

Yes: Allow users to reduce the block to just the heading by clicking the Retractable icon .

Automatically retract: Only the heading of the block is visible, and the user can click the Retracted icon to view its content.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page for the first time.

You can also click the Close button in the top right-hand corner to either remove a newly created block before it is being saved or to cancel any changes and leave the block’s content as it is.